398 



C. SKOTTSBERG 



here: Serpyllopsis, Hynieiwphylluui fa/k/andicuni, Polypodiuni (Grammitis) Diagel- 

 lanictim, Gleichenia quadripartita, and Lycopodiuvi magellaiiiatvi. 



Did this Antarctic element, mostly not endemic, extend to Great Juan Fer- 

 nandez or did it arrive after the separation from the mainland took place, per- 

 haps even after that the volcanic islands had been formed? The same question 

 was raised when we discussed the non-endemic neotropical-temperate St?pa, Pipto- 

 chaetiian, Myrteola, Rubus, and so forth; the Boreal group is, as we have seen, 

 also involved. Is it probable that also this flora dates back to early or middle 

 Tertiary times? This seems unlikely. The subantarctic species are, with the excep- 

 tion of Grauimitis, restricted to the highland of Masafuera, but may have occurred 

 also on jNIasatierra when the islands stood higher. Either we must assume that 

 the land connection with the continent persisted much longer than is otherwise 

 probable, or those species have immigrated across the water in late Pliocene or 

 in postglacial time. I have suggested this on repeated occasions (.?J^, 2j2, 34.6). 

 However, we must not forget that we have to do, not with stra\' colonists, but 

 with plant communities composed by flowering plants, ferns, bryophytes and 

 lichens. Unfortunately nobody beheld the vegetation before introduced species, 

 AiitlwxcDithuDi odoratuDi and Riiiuex acetoselia, had inxaded the highland and 

 changed the entire aspect beyond recognition. 



To distinguish, among the br}'ophytes, the old element which undoubtedly 

 must have formed an important part of the subtropical forest flora is more than 

 I can undertake; we do not know if the many endemic species are relicts or not; 

 in fact, we do not even know if they are endemic until the opposite mainland 

 has been well explored. So much can be said that species with a pronounced 

 tropical distribution are few, but if we add the Chilean species extending through 

 the Valdivian and Magellanian forest zones, this South American group makes 

 up about 40% of the mosses and 30 % of the hepatics, endemic species of Ameri- 

 can affinity included. Perhaps half a dozen mosses, not counting the few that 

 accompany man wherever he goes, and some liverworts, have a wide distribution 

 outside America. The dominant element is Antarctic; this was emphasized by 

 such authorities as Cardot and HerzoG: 56% of the mosses and 68% of the 

 hepatics were referred to the Antarcto-tertiary element. 



When it comes to distinguishing corresponding groups among the lichens we 

 move on very unsafe ground, but there are indications that, beside a large South 

 American element, we also have an Antarctic group to which no less than 58 

 species were referred. They are austral- or subantarctic bicentric or tricentric, 

 but many of them range north into lower latitudes. A conspicuous part is formed 

 by Stictaceae. The great bulk of the family is by no means southern, Loharia, 

 Sticta and Pseudocyphellaria are frequent in tropical, subtropical and temperate- 

 oceanic climates throughout, but the austral-circumpolar species are so many that 

 we cannot exclude Antarctica as a possible source. 



We shall proceed to group 2. It comprises the genera or species which are 

 foreign to the South American flora and have their relations in Australasia. JoilOW 

 recognized very few; he had, just as several later authors, no other explanation 

 to offer than that they had arrived across the Pacific from Australia, New Zealand, 



